SCA/IARS Starter and SCA/IARS Mid-Career Research Grants

SCA/IARS Starter and SCA/IARS Mid-Career Research Grants is sponsored by Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists (SCA). These research grants are available to assist in the further advancement of anesthesiology, including topics relevant to cardiovascular and thoracic procedures.

SCA Research Grants | Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists SCA supports cardiothoracic and vascular research projects. This is the basis for the creation of the SCA Starter Grant, Joyce Wahr Starter Grant, Marianne and Michael Cahalan Endowmed Research Award, and the In-Training Grant.

Four types of grants will be awarded in 2026: Marianne and Michael Cahalan Endowmed Research Award – up to $75,000 per year for two SCA Starter Grant – up to $37,500 per year for two years. SCA Joyce Wahr Starter Grant – up to $37,500 per year for two years. SCA In-Training Grant – $15,000 for one year.

Please Note: The Starter Grant and the Joyce Wahr Starter Grant request the same application information and formatting. At the time of application, the PI should identify if they are eligible for, and wish to be considered for, both the Joyce Wahr Starter Grant and the Starter Grant, or for one or the other only. The awards will be announced prior to the 2026 SCA Annual Meeting & Workshops in Nashville, TN.

The grant period of 24 months can begin any time from July 1 to December 31 of the year granted. Grant recipients are required to present their work at a subsequent SCA Annual Meeting. Applications will close on February 9, 2026.

Click Here for the 2026 SCA Research Grants requirements and instructions. Click Here for the Research Grants Checklist ( Please submit with your application). Click Here for the Research Grants Title Page ( Please submit with your application).

2025 Research Grant Winners Clinical Associate Professor Predicting prolonged hospitalization after congenital heart surgery using Medicaid administrative claims and machine learning Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Continuous Glucose Monitoring in Patients Undergoing Cardiopulmonary Bypass Anastasia Katsiampoura, MD, PhD Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Elucidating Anti-inflammatory Roles of CD39 and T regulatory cells with Cardiopulmonary Bypass Brigham and Women’s Hospital Adjustable Bioadhesive Ultrasound (ABAUS) for Continuous Monitoring of Impella LVAD Patients in the ICU 2024 Research Grant Winners Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Acute Normovolemic Hemodilution: A Prospective, Observational Study of the Volume Effect on Transfusions, Coagulation Mechanisms, and Safety Outcomes Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Impaired liver-heart cross talk in metabolic syndrome leading to cardiac dysfunction: the role of FGF-21 Sungsoo (Danny) Kim, MD, MS, PhD candidate PGY-3 (CA-2 of Anesthesia Resident) University of California – Los Angeles Intraoperative Deep Learning model for Imputation of the continuous Central Venous Pressure (CVP) and Pulmonary Arterial Pressure (PAP) waveforms from minimally invasive Brigham and Women’s Hospital Quantifying the Cost of Rescue Transesophageal Echocardiogram: An Emergency Diagnostic Provided by Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists University of Nebraska Medical Center Association of Mental Illness and Rurality with Adverse Outcomes in Cardiothoracic Surgery 2023 Research Grant Winners Type of Grant Awardee Title and Institution Research Study Title Mid-Career Lee Goeddel, MD, MPH Assistant Professor Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Baltimore, MD Hemodynamic Profiles of Cardiovascular Dysfunction and Risk of Cardiac Surgery Associated Kidney Injury in Patients with Preserved Ejection Fraction Starter/Diversity Terri Sun, MD Clinical Assistant Professor University of British Columbia Vancouver, Canada Bilateral Paravertebral Blockade for Improvement of Quality of Recovery Following Cardiac Surgery: A Randomized Controlled Trial Starter/Diversity Tiffany Williams, MD, PhD Assistant Professor University of California – UCLA Los Angeles, CA Machine Learning of Physiological Waveforms and Electronic Health Record Data: Towards Predicting Hemodynamic Instability in Adult Congenital Heart Disease Surgical Patients In-Training Luai Zakaria, MD Cleveland Clinic Cleveland, OH Morbidity and Mortality after High-Dose Hydroxocobalamin for Refractory Vasoplegia: A Retrospective Propensity Score Analysis of Safety and Efficacy 2022 Research Grant Winners Type of Grant Awardee Title and Institution Research Study Title SCA/IARS Mid-Career Yafen Liang, MD Associate Professor McGovern Medical School, UT Health Science Center Houston, TX Prevention of Post-Cardiac Surgery Acute Kidney Injury by Proton Pump Inhibitor: A Prospective Randomized Controlled Trial SCA/IARS Starter Meghan Prin, MD, MS Assistant Professor University of Colorado School of Medicine Denver, CO Circadian Movements and Delirium in Older Cardiac Surgery ICU Patients SCA/IARS Diversty & Inclusion Kofi Vandyck, MD Assistant Professor University of Oklahoma Health Science Oklahoma City, OK Optimization of Platelet function Testing In Cardiopulmonary bypass (OPTIC): A Comparison Between Thrombelastography-Platelet Mapping and Total Thrombus-formation Analysis System (T-TAS) 2021 Research Grant Winners Type of Grant Awardee Title and Institution Research Study Title SCA/IARS Mid-Career Alina Nicoara, MD Associate Professor Durham, NC Right Ventricle Adaptive Changes in Patients Undergoing Left Ventricular Assist Device Implantation SCA/IARS Starter Sergey Karamnov, MD Instructor Brigham and Women’s Hospital Boston, MA Combined Clinical-Epidemiological Risk Score for Postoperative Atrial Fibrillation after Cardiac Surgery: A Multi-Institutional Study SCA/IARS Diversty & Inclusion Elena Ashikhmina, MD, PhD Assistant Professor Rochester, MN Activated Prothrombin Complex Concentrate FEIBA to Optimize Postcardiopulmonary Bypass Hemostasis in Pediatric Cardiac Patients SCA MiCoR Marta Kelava, MD, MS Clinical Assistant Professor CCLCM/CWRU Cleveland, OH The Effect of Continuous Low Tidal Volume Ventilation and Hyperoxia Avoidance During Cardiopulmonary Bypass 2020 Research Grant Winners Type of Grant Awardee Title and Institution Research Study Title SCA/IARS Mid-Career Michael Mazzeffi, MD Associate Professor, University of Maryland School of Medicine Baltimore, Maryland Von Willebrand Factor Concentrate for Treatment of Acquired Von Willebrand Syndrome During ECMO: An in vitro Dose Finding and Efficacy Study SCA/IARS Starter Matthew Barajas, MD Assistant Professor, Vanderbilt University Medical Center Nashville, Tennessee Altered Efficacy of Ischemic Post Conditioning after Cardiac Arrest in a Diabetic Rat Model SCA/IARS Starter Isaac Wu, MD Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center New York, New York Transcatheter Mitral Valve Repair and Right Ventricular Function: Analysis Based Upon Intraoperative Pressure-Volume Relationships 2019 Research Grant Winners Type of Grant Awardee Title and Institution Research Study Title SCA/IARS Mid-Career Jessica Brodt, MD Clinical Assistant Professor, Stanford Hospital & Clinics, Stanford, CA Enhanced Recovery After Cardiac Surgery with Erector Spinae Plane Catheters: A Prospective, Randomized, Placebo Controlled Trial SCA/IARS Starter Nathan Clendenen, MD Assistant Professor, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, CO Hemostasis After Cardiac Surgery and the Effect of Whole Blood Transfusion 2018 Research Grant Winners Type of Grant Awardee Title and Institution Research Study Title SCA/IARS Mid-Career Jochen Steppan, MD DESA Assistant Professor, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland The Role of LOXL2 in Pulmonary Hypertension SCA/IARS Starter Erik Strauss, MD Assistant Professor, University of Maryland School of Medicine, College Park, Maryland Assessment of Tranexamic acid and e-Aminocaproic acid Pharmacokinetics and therapeutic Effectiveness during cardiopulmonary bypass (TAPE) 2017 Research Grant Winners Type of Grant Awardee Title and Institution Research Study Title SCA/IARS Mid-Career Viachaslau Barodka, MD Assistant Professor Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD Prevention of Cardiac Surgery Associated Acute Kidney Injusry by a Goal-Directed Perfusion Protocol: Pilot Single Center Randomized Controlled Trial SCA/IARS Starter Eckhard Mauermann, MD Research Fellow, Cardiac Anesthesia University Hospital of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium 3D Echocardiography-Derived Pressure-Volume Loops for Assessing Right Ventricular Performance.

A Feasibility Study With Broad Clinical Implications SCA/IARS Starter Louis Saddic, MD PhD Fellow University of California, Los Angeles, CA Remote Genetic Remodeling of the Cardiac Nervous System Following Myocardial Ischemia and the Attenuation of These Changes With Spinal Cord Stimulation 2016 Research Grant Winners Type of Grant Awardee Title and Institution Research Study Title SCA/SCAF Roizen Srdjan Jelacic, MD University of Washington, Seattle, WA The Use of Routine Video Surveillance of the Entire Operating Room to Identify Specific Hazards and Analyze Sentinel Events from Cardiothoracic and Vascular Procedures SCA/IARS Starter Michael A.

Mazzeffi, MD University of Maryland, College Park, MD Procoagulant and Anticoagulant Factor Levels, Thrombin Generation, and Bleeding During Venoarterial ECMO SCA/IARS Starter Matthew A. Fischer, MD University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA Predicting Post-Operative Atrial Fibrillation Using a Multi-Locus Epigenomic Risk Metric SCA/IARS Starter Jan M.

Dieleman, MD PhD UMC Utrecht Utrecht, Netherlands Genome wide DNA methylation profiles in patients with severe coronary artery disease and heart failure 2015 Research Grant Winners Type of Grant Awardee Title and Institution Research Study Title SCA/IARS Mid-Career Elod Szabo, MD PhD Research Institute, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada Influence of Exercise and Arrhythmia on the Development of Na-channel Related Cardiomyopathy SCA/IARS Starter Quintin Quinones, MD PhD Duke UniversityDurham, NC Innate Immune Adaptations of Hibernation as a New Approach to Protection Against Acute Organ Injury SCA/IARS Starter Matthew Levin, MD Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY Genomics of Vasoplegia 2014 Research Grant Winners Type of Grant Awardee Title and Institution Research Study Title SCA In-Training Domagoj Mladinov Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI Novel Strategies in Advancing Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation: MicroRNAs, Small Molecules with Great Potential SCA/IARS Starter Kimberly Howard-Quijano, MD University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA The Role of Cardiospinal Reflexes in Modulation of Ventricular Arrhythmogenesis SCA/IARS Starter Bryan Maxwell, MD Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD Development of a Comprehensive Perioperative Registry of Noncardiac Surgery and Obstetric Care for Patients with Adult Congenital Heart Disease SCA/SCAF Roizen Kei Togashi University of Washington, Seattle, WA Randomized Study of the Clinical Impact of Surgical Correction of Tricuspid Insufficiency in Implantable LVAD patients SCA/IARS Mid-Career David McIlroy, MD University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia Does varying the chloride content of intravenous fluid alter the risk of acute kidney injury after cardiac surgery?

2013 Research Grant Winners Type of Grant Awardee Title and Institution Research Study Title SCA In-Training Geoffrey D.

Lively, MD Virginia Commonwelath UniversityRichmond, VA A Clinical Pilot Study of Interactive Biomarkers in Coagulation, Inflammation and Endothelium with/ without Enhanced Anti-Oxidant Buffering Capacity utilizing High Dose Intravenous Vitamin C SCA/IARS Mid-Career Nina Hauck-Weber, PhD University of Amsterdam (AMC), Department of Anesthesiology, Amsterdam, Netherlands Secretion of Caveolin to the Bloodstream-a Role for Circulation Factors in Inducing Organ Protection by Helium – A Translational Approach SCA/IARS Starter Michael W.

Manning, MD PhD Duke University Medical Center; Department of Anesthesiology, Durham, NC Atrial Fibrillation following Cardiopulmonary Bypass: The role of Angiotensin II SCA/IARS Starter Robert H.

Thiele, MD University of Virginia School of Medicine; Departments of Anesthesiology and Biomedical Engineering, Charlottesville, VA Comparison of Broad-Band Near-Infrared Spectroscopy- Derived Mitochondrial Oxidation State and Tissue Oxygen Saturation for the Detection of Ischemia in Two Models of Rat Cerebral Ischemia 2012 Research Grant Winners Type of Grant Awardee Title and Institution Research Study Title SCA/SCAF Roizen Se-Chan Kim University of Bonn Dept of Anesthesiology, Bonn, Germany CpG Oligodeoxynucleotide Mediated Postconditioning and Immunomodulating Effect in Myocardial Ischemia and Reperfusion Injury SCA/IARS Mid-Career Amanda Fox, MD Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA Genome-Wide Assessment of Genetic Associations with Heart Failure after Primary Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery SCA/IARS Starter Tobias Piegeler Department of Anesthesiology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL Amide-linked Local Anesthetics as Src kinase inhibitors in Pulmonary Vascular Inflammation – A New Target for Old Drugs?

SCA/IARS Starter Friederike Behmenburg University Hospital Duesseldorf, Germany Does Protection of the Aged Heart by Targeting Mitochondrial Large Conductance Ca2+-activated Potassium Channels Improve Long Term Hemodynamic Performance?

2011 Research Grant Winners Type of Grant Awardee Title and Institution Research Study Title SCA/IARS Starter Jayant Nick Pratap Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH Randomized Trial of Near-infrared Spectroscopy to Guide Intraoperative and Intensive Care Management During Children’s Heart Surgery SCA/IARS Starter Jan Stumpner University of Wuerzburg, Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care, Wuerzburg, Germany The Functional Role of Calcium/Calmodulin Kinase II in Ischemic and Anesthetic-induced Cardiac Protection SCA/IARS Mid-Career Diederik Van Dijk University Medical Center Utrecht, Netherlands, Utrecht, Netherlands The Effect of Dexamethasone on Cognitive Decline after Cardiac Surgery 2010 Research Grant Winners Type of Grant Awardee Title and Institution Research Study Title SCA/IARS Starter Timo Brandenburger, MD University Hospital Duesseldorf, Germany, Duesseldorf, Germany Effects of MicroRNA-1 Knockdown on IGF-1 and cMet Expression and Impact on Hypoxia-induced Cell Death in Rat Myoblast Cells H9c2 SCA/IARS Starter Tetsuro Sakai, MD PhD University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Pittsburgh, PA Role of Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase in Stem Cell Mediated Neuronal Protection In Vitro SCA/IARS Mid-Career Gregory M.

T. Hare, MD PhD St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, Canada Determining the Hemoglobin Threshold for Hypoxic SCA/SCAF Roizen Joern A.

Karhausen Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC The Intestinal Injury in a Rat Model of Deep Hypothermic Cardiac Arrest: Critical Role of Mucosal Mast Cells for Barrier Function and Inflammation 2009 Research Grant Winners Type of Grant Awardee Title and Institution Research Study Title SCA/IARS Mid-Career Qing Ma, MD Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC PPAR Gamma as a Novel Therapeutic Target in Perioperative Cerebral Injury Following Deep Hypothermic Circulatory Arrest SCA/IARS Starter Martina Nowak-Machen, MD Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA CD39 Modulates NKT Cell-induced Oxygen Toxicity in the Lung SCA/SCAF Roizen Matthias L.

Riess, MD PhD Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI Free Radicals and Mitochondrial Function: How does genetic predisposition affect cardioprotection by volatile anesthetics? SCA/IARS Starter Mark Lovich, MD PhD Caritas St.

Elizabeth’s Medical Center, Boston, MA Pericardial Inotropic Therapy: A new paradigm for studying heart contraction 2008 Research Grant Winners Type of Grant Awardee Title and Institution Research Study Title SCA/IARS Mid-Career Mark A.

Gerhardt, MD PhD The Ohio State University Medical Center, Columbus, OH Cytoskeletal Alterations in a Porcine Model of Restrictive Ventricular Septal Defect SCA/IARS Starter Ragnar Huhn, MD University of Amsterdam (AMC) Amsterdam, Netherlands Helium-induced Cardioprotection in the Hypertensive Myocardium SCA/IARS Starter J.

Danny Muehlschlegel, MD Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA Functional analysis of Protease Activated Receptor-4 Polymorphisms associated with Myocardial Injury SCA/IARS Starter Zhengyuan Xia, MD PhD University of Hong KongPok Fu Lam, Hong Kong Nitrate Tolerance Compromises Propofol Protection Of The Endothelium Against Inflammation: The Role Of PKC-ß2 And NADPH Oxidase Interaction